Coast Hills FCU Reports Members Take to HARP

The 50,000-member, $689 million Coast Hills Federal Credit Union in Lompoc, Calif., is the latest to report that its members have been refinancing a lot of mortgage loans through the latest version of the government's Home Affordable Refinance Program.

The original HARP program was largely judged, at best, a small success, due to burdensome paperwork and a loan-to value cap which was universally judged to have been set too low. But the current HARP 2.0 program has been open to many more homeowners and credit unions have been harvesting the rewards.

CoastHills’ experience echoes those of other credit unions. Since April or 2012, the California credit union reports that it has booked $33 million in HARP 2.0 loans and saved its members $600,000 annually.

The credit union reported that it had booked 135 HARP 2.0 loans and that these have saved members an average $360 in monthly loan payments.